Um, hopefully I'm just old and out of the loop. But does that hand gesture mean something else now?
I wouldn't expect to see that on a political news article.
I'm with you, I found that picture a bit.... shocking.
I tried strategically googling it and couldn't find a definitive answer. I did find this, which at least proves that there is a SFW interpretation, even if the link does everything but tell you what that is:
It isn't actually. The shocker gesture has the index and middle fingers touching. This is the Sigma Gamma Rho sorority hand gesture where the two fingers are parted.